FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BALLGAME - PAGE 3

1. Little help here On this day in 1945, Cubs player Paul Gillespie homered twice and drove in six runs in a 20-6 win over the (Brooklyn) Dodgers. Dusty Baker wants to know if anyone still has his phone number. 2. Fatalistic attraction Your Chicago Blackhawks start a 12-day tune-up camp on Aug. 25. Oh, really now, what's the use? 3. That's the Chicago way Using overall standing points, the Chicago Fire is tied with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars for second place.

Being a third base coach is a lot like being the vice president of the United States. No one wants to hear from him until something goes wrong, and then he has to explain his actions to a media throng. So Cubs third base coach Tom Gamboa calmly explained his crucial decision to wave Sammy Sosa home in the ninth inning of Thursday's loss, saying Sosa shouldn't be faulted for being thrown out at third. "I was thinking that hopefully with Sammy's speed, that we can tie up the ballgame right there," Gamboa said.

It isn`t over until it's over. The season, that is. What can a team do when things look so bleak with half a year to go? "Just come to the park ready to play," said Mark Grace, who clearly believes something can still be made of this season. "I`ve said a lot of times, we`re going to go as far as our starting pitching lets us. This team's going to score runs. "We`ve got a very, very young starting rotation. We can`t expect 24-year-old guys like (Mike) Harkey and (Shawn)

Astros` manager Hal Lanier said what he does with his pitching staff in the National League playoffs depends on whether his team gets off to a good start. Mike Scott opposed Dwight Gooden Wednesday night in the opener at the Astrodome. Lanier will send Nolan Ryan and Bob Knepper against the Mets in Games 2 and 3. "Depending on what we do in those three ballgames . . . if we would be fortunate enough to come out ahead in those three games, we could start a Jim Deshaies in the fourth game and feel comfortable with him because he's had a great season," said Lanier.

They all came here with a plan. Del Crandall, Chuck Cottier, Dick Williams. Each thought he could be the miracle worker. The manager who could turn the Seattle Mariners into winners. Each failed miserably. The Mariner manager's office has been a baseball Bermuda Triangle. Managers have disappeared in there. Jim Lefebvre, the latest Mariner believer, is trying to change all of that. With 11 games remaining following Friday night's game with the White Sox, these Seattle Mariners needed five more wins to tie the team record for victories.

A writer wanted to know which victory Bob Welch considered his most important this year. Sort of like asking Imelda Marcos, "What's your favorite pair of shoes?" Was it Welch's 20th? He reached that landmark faster than anyone in 17 years. Was it his 25th? He became the first man in a decade to win that many. Or was it any of the clutch games that kept the Oakland juggernaut chugging toward its third consecutive American League West title? None of the above.

Bears players talk after their 21-13 loss Sunday to the Packers. JAY CUTLER, QB On whether the Packers were bracketing Brandon Marshall: “Yeah. It was nothing we didn't expect.” On whether he was surprised by the Bears having three pass interference calls: “I don't think any of us want to get into a penalty discussion over what was right, what was called and what should have been called. I don't think anyone wants to get fined, first of all. Secondly, that's not what lost us this game.” On the mood in the Bears' locker room: “It's tough.

As I watched the Cubs game on July 29 I was taken aback by an audience scan of a man holding his hand between the legs of his female companion. Has everyone forgotten that half of the baseball fans are children and what a great responsibility this is? For some time I've had a problem with players using the "F" word when striking out or doing something stupid. You don't have to hear the word to know what it is that they are saying. It seems like it could be solved easily by not broadcasting the players' faces when it seems apparent that this will happen.

I've been following major-league baseball since the 1930s. At that time, the games were exciting and suspenseful. They lasted about two hours. Now the games are drawn out and have lost their excitement. There are two reasons for this: the smaller strike zone and the numerous pitching changes late in the games. Until the strike zone is lengthened and the managers refrain from all the pitching changes, baseball will continue to be a long, drawn-out and exceedingly dull game.

With Harry Caray gone, will the Cubs honor the home field tradition of singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch? We'll know by April 3, when the Cubs play their first home game of the season against the Expos. Hall of Fame announcer Caray, who died Feb. 18, was famous for leading the crowd in a rousing rendition of the song. This year, the Cubs organization might decide to have fans join in with a taped version of Caray belting out the song. Or maybe the Cubs organist will play the tune so fans can sing along.